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Background

We would like to welcome you to the first edition of the Journal of Eating Disorders. We are sure that the first questions you may wish to ask would be why a new journal
of eating disorders and why an open access one? There can be no doubt that the field
of eating disorders is experiencing a phase of major growth. We have strong international
eating disorders organisations such as the Academy of Eating Disorders and the Eating
Disorders Research Society and many national societies throughout the world. These
societies not only provide local networks for their members but arrange annual conferences
to ensure that important new developments in our field are rapidly disseminated. To
meet the growing demand for the ever increasing research and reviews of developments
in our field, the International Journal of Eating Disorders came into being in 1981. Under the excellent stewardship of the founding editor Craig
Johnson and later Michael Strober the International Journal not only met the need for a home for publications in eating disorders but stimulated
further interest that has exceeded every expectation.

Despite the explosion of knowledge emanating out of years of high calibre research
in eating disorders, there remain many gaps. Whilst there is now sufficient scientific
evidence supporting the effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy for the treatment
of bulimia nervosa
[1], further research needs to be undertaken to refine existing treatments to make them
even more potent and cost-effective. Furthermore we know that such treatment protocols
do not work for all such patients and there is an urgent need to develop-new ones
or adapt existing protocols for those unable to respond and test treatments for other
eating disorders. We have made significant progress in treating adolescents who have
been ill for less than 3.5 years and Maudsley family-based treatment has rapidly become
the treatment of choice for adolescents and children with anorexia nervosa
[2]. However, although the data from randomised controlled trials has produced encouraging
findings there is still little to guide clinicians as to the best approach in adults.
In addition, there is almost no evidence to inform clinicians as to how best to proceed
with a patient who has a more severe and enduring form of anorexia nervosa
[3,4]. There are many important and exciting studies underway and the data emanating from
these studies are likely to inform clinicians in our field for decades to come. New
technologies such as functional MRI
[5] and the burgeoning field of epigenetics
[6] are also going to challenge our existing models of thinking about eating disorders
and force us to reconceptualise aspects of what and how we deliver existing treatments.
The digital revolution and the Internet in particular have provided opportunities
that could only have been dreamt about only a few short years ago. The demands for
collaborative research across not only countries but continents to deliver better
research outcomes and the need for more rapid dissemination of outcomes cannot be
overstated.

The time has now arrived to harness these opportunities and the Journal of Eating Disorders is uniquely placed to facilitate rapid publication and dissemination of the results
of these exciting developments. The way we communicate our scientific findings is
undergoing a metamorphosis and science has to adapt to meet these challenges. We have
undoubtedly “crossed the Rubicon” and science as an open enterprise is now upon us
[7]. The Netherlands has endorsed it and the Royal Society in the United Kingdom has
become a leading advocate of open access publication. Pre-eminent research bodies
such as the NIH
[8] in the United States of America, the Wellcome Trust in the UK
[9], and the National Medical Research Council in Australia have mandated that any research
emanating out of their research grant funding has to be published either in an open
access journal or one that will make the article available to all within a year.

The Journal of Eating Disorders aims to embrace and exploit all the opportunities that open access can deliver
[10]. Adding to this its strong global commitment reflected in the nationalities of the
Editorial Board. The Editors intend to rapidly respond to important developments in
the field by also initiating special issues and then publishing these upon acceptance
following peer review. Online open access, unlike the more traditional journals is
not bound by page limitations. We are able to continue to publish our regular articles
on acceptance whilst incorporating these special issues and invited papers. Once published
such articles will be eventually be included in databases such as PubMed
[11].

It is also important to understand the ramifications of open access. No longer is
your research a private enterprise and read only by those who have access or the means
to purchase your article, but by all who wish to enrich their knowledge. Clinicians,
politicians, media, high school students, parents, teachers, health economists, private
industry and those individuals living in developing countries
[12] who do not have the means to purchase such articles, will now have access at the
push of a Google button. Because of this open and rapid dissemination of research
data, articles in open access journals such as the Journal of Eating Disorders are widely cited
[13].

Notwithstanding all these advantages of open access over more traditional publications,
there is a cost that has to be met. Producing a journal requires a production team
to maintain databases, ensure high standards of formatting, marketing, PubMed listings
and constantly upgrade our web page to name just a few. Upon acceptance of a paper
and just prior to publication, the author is required to pay an Article Processing
Charge
[14,15]. Most universities are currently reviewing their policies as how best to support
their academic and research staff to meet these costs whilst casting a careful eye
on the ever increasing financial burden placed on shrinking budgets by the subscriptions
required to maintain journal collections in libraries. It is also important to remember
that unlike traditional journals, you the author retain the intellectual property
of your own work and you do not assign it over to the journal. You therefore do not
need to request permission from the journal when you wish to reprint sections of your
work.

The Editors have deliberately kept the scope of the Journal broad. We invite not only
original research reports but systematic reviews of the literature, clinical case
reports, new randomised controlled trials, editorials as well as letters to the editors.
We have a policy in place to provide a rapid turn around in review with the intention
of publishing a paper within 8 weeks of submission. This is a tall order but one the
Editors are determined to enshrine as one of the hallmarks of this new publication.

The launch contains papers reflecting the breadth diversity and scope of this Journal.
Latner et al. examined the relationship between internalized weight bias and physical and mental
health related quality of life (HRQoL) in 120 participants overweight or obese
[16]. They found internalized weight bias was associated with greater impairment in HRQoL
over and above the contributions of body mass index (BMI), age and medical comorbidities.
Wade et al. investigated the role of perfectionism in body dissatisfaction in a large (over 1000)
sample of adult women
[17]. Controlling for BMI, a lower desired BMI was associated with higher levels of concern
over mistakes and organization and a smaller ideal silhouette was associated with
higher levels of concern over mistakes and doubts about action and organization. Finally
Soh and Walter
[18] in their systematic review point to the urgent need for more research in eating disorders
from other cultures. This is an area in which we anticipate the Journal of Eating Disorders to lead the field.

On behalf of the Editors, Associate Editors, members of the Editorial Board as well
as our superb management team, welcome to the Journal of Eating Disorders and we look forward to receiving your manuscripts for publication. It is our aim
to provide you with a high quality journal which will be a flagship for the area in
open access. Throughout this endeavour we have had the unwavering support of Sara
Ho of BMC who never lost sight of our determination to launch a new open access journal
in early 2013. Her encyclopaedic knowledge regarding the establishment of an exciting,
innovative and new open access journal and all the details that needed to be worked
through has ensured that our new journal of eating disorders has met the highest international
standards. It is now there for all to see. We thank our managing editor Jeremy Freeman
whose visionary talents, abundance of enthusiasm and attention to detail has contributed
greatly to the quality of this edition but will ensure that we strive for bigger and
better things in the years to come. A special word of thanks is to the Butterfly Foundation
for their generous support to ensure that this dream was finally able to become a
reality. We thank all who have contributed to this launch, the first important step
in the journal’s role in facilitating the speed of quality science and practice in
the field of eating disorder and related disciplines.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributions

ST wrote the paper, PH contributed to content and editing. Both authors read and approved
the final manuscript" should be present at the end of the paragraph.